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Book Discussion
European Book Club

Goethe-Institut Chicago

150 North Michigan Avenue
Suite 200
Chicago, lL 60601

Volker Kutscher: BABYLON BERLIN

The discussion in English will be moderated by Jana-Maria Hartmann

The European Book Club (organized by the Goethe-Institut Chicago and EUNIC Chicago) meets regularly for a book discussion of a bestselling novel in English translation. Guests who would like to attend should read the book in advance and come prepared to participate in the discussion.

Berlin, 1929. Detective Inspector Rath, was a successful career officer in the Cologne Homicide Division before a shooting incident in which he inadvertently killed a man. He has been transferred to the Vice Squad in Berlin, a job he detests, even though he finds a new friend in his boss, Chief Inspector Wolter. There is seething unrest in the city and the Commissioner of Police has ordered the Vice Squad to ruthlessly enforce the ban on May Day demonstrations. The result is catastrophic with many dead and injured, and a state of emergency is declared in the Communist strongholds of the city.
First published in German by Verlag Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne, as Der nasse Fisch. Translated by Niall Sellar.

Born in Germany, Jana-Maria Hartmann studied Comparative Literature at Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich and the Sorbonne in Paris and is a graduate of the Columbia Publishing Course. After internships at Verlagsgruppe Random House in Munich and Bettina Schrewe’s scouting agency in New York, she moved to the German capital to work as an editor for BerlinVerlag for more than six years. In 2015, she moved to Chicago to launch her own literary scouting agency, JMH Scouting.